The Ladies of Longwood: Albine de Montholon & Fanny Betrand

Albine de Montholon (1779-1848).

A lady of somewhat easy virtue. She was first married at the age of 15, and was twice divorced.

She married Charles Tristan de Montholon, some four years her junior, in 1812. Their marriage had been opposed by Napoleon.

Mme de Montholon is very different from Mme Bertrand, a scheming woman who has known where her best interests lie, far better than we do. Mme Bertrand, on the contrary, does not. - Napoleon (1)

she is called "The Minister of Bonaparte" in Europe .. She has a very different head than that of madame Bertrand. - attributed to Monthchenu, the French Commissioner. (2)

When she accompanied her husband and young son Tristan (1812-1831) to St Helena she left behind a 12 year old son from a previous marriage and also a baby, Charles Frédéric Montholon (1814-1886), who was considered too young to travel.

Whilst on St Helena she gave birth to two daughters, Napoléone (1816-1907) and Joséphine(1818-1819).

She was reputed to have had a number of romantic liaisons whilst on the island. Possibly with Admiral Cockburn, more certainly with Napoleon and with Lt. Basil Jackson, who followed her off the island in 1819 at the wish of the Governor, and stayed with her in Brussels.

Fanny Bertrand raised doubts as to who was the father of Napoléone, who was conceived on the Northumberland. It is fairly clear though that Napoleon had no relationship with Albine at that time, but there is now almost general agreement that Joséphine, who was conceived at Longwood, was Napoleon's daughter.

Mme Montholon decided to leave the island in 1819, after she had become infatuated with the young Basil Jackson. Napoleon was concerned at the relationship, apparently less from jealousy than from suspicion that everything that was happening at Longwood was being reported back to the Governor. (3)

Napoleon was determined not to lose the Count de Montholon, and offered every inducement to get Albine to leave on her own. He told her that she would easily find a husband. Sire, a woman may easily find a lover, but not a husband she replied. (4)

Mme Montholon duly left on board the Lady Campbell in July 1819. She took with her 12 turkeys, 72 chickens, 2 goats to provide milk for the children, 2 ducks and numerous bottles of wine.

On the day of her departure her husband sent her a note: The Emperor expresses deep regret at your departure, his tears flowed for you, maybe for the first time in his life. (5)

Joséphine died shortly after they arrived back in Europe, and Mme de Montholon blamed herself. She felt that it would not have happened had she stayed on the island.

She also lost most of her personal possessions in a fire that broke out at her home in Brussels. A similar event happened to Joseph Bonaparte in January 1820. There is some suspicion that both events were the work of agents acting for one or other of the monarchs of Europe who were concerned that Napoleon's correspondence with them was about to be published.

Because of a failure of the various parties to agree on a replacement for her husband, she was apparently even contemplating returning to St Helena before news arrived of the Emperor's death.

After her husband's return to Europe the couple soon separated and remained in that state until her death - divorce had been abolished in post-revolutionary France.

She died at Montpellier in 1848 aged 69. Her embalmed body lies in the Chapelle des Penitents bleus, Montpellier. There was a curious decision in the last days of the German occupation to move it to Les Invalides, but for whatever reason this was never carried out.



Élisabeth Françoise Bertrand, (1785-1836)
See also blogs on Bertrands Cottage and the French actress Rachel.

A cousin of the Empress Josephine, Fanny had enlisted the help of her and Napoleon in finding a husband.

Among those suggested were Prince Alphonse Pignatelli (he died), Prince Aldobrandini - later King of Portugal, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, the Prince of Neuchatel and Prince Bernard of Saxe-Coburg.

For one reason or another all these matches fell through. Two days after her mother's death she went to Josephine desperately seeking a husband, and was told that Napoleon had finally found one: General Bertrand. She was not pleased and, volatile as ever, when Napoleon came in she said What, sire! Bertrand! Bertrand! Why not the Pope's monkey?

Still, she married him in 1808 in the house of Josephine's daughter Hortense at Saint-Leu, and they had what appears to have been a happy marriage.

There is not another Bertrand in the world. I think the mould for making such men is broken. - Fanny Bertrand(6)

She accompanied her husband to Elba and, reluctantly to St Helena. She was accompanied by their children Napoleon, Henri and Hortense.

Whilst at St Helena she suffered a number of miscarriages, and gave birth to a son, Arthur.

Rumours were rife that Fanny had romantic liaisons with Admiral Cockburn or an English Officer, Harrison. Some wonder whether young Arthur was perhaps Harrison's son. Napoleon also in his final days certainly cast doubts on her fidelity, but that may have been simply the result of anger and bitterness at her.

Of some things we may be certain: Fanny hated Albine Montholon and was jealous of the influence of her and her husband over Napoleon. At the time when rumours of the relationship between Napoleon and Albine were rife, she made it clear that she could have been his mistress had she wanted to. It is certain however, that she never became Napoleon's mistress, as Napoleon himself was to complain bitterly in his last few weeks.

The core of Napoleon's complaint against her seems to have been her withdrawal from life at Longwood. The Bertrands had always lived separately from the main party, first at Hutts Gate, and then in the separate cottage built for them away from the main house at Longwood.

For six years she had not played the part she should have played. She should have dined with him, or at the very least she should have joined his party of an evening. (7)

To correct the balance it is worth noting the diary entry made by her husband on February 7th 1821, before the bitterness and sadness of the final days:

.. There was no one of whom he thought more highly, though at times he had said unkind things about her. (8)

The unkind words were not yet finished!

In early 1821 Fanny had a miscarriage from which she nearly died, and Antommarchi spent a long time with her, much to Napoleon's annoyance. Bertrand's diary of the last few months gives a fascinating glimpse into a desperately unhappy world in which Bertrand faithfully recorded the most monstrous allegations against the virtue of his wife and pleaded with Napoleon to see her and to allow her to nurse him. Napoleon was adamant: he was used to Marchand, but would see Mme Bertrand before he died. At this point Betrand recorded,The Grand Marshall was unable to restrain his tears.(9)

On the evening of 26th April Napoleon said 5 or 6 times to Marchand, How is Mme la Marshall? Tell me, how is she?(10)

Finally he saw her at mass in the Emperor's apartment on 29th April, and then she visited him on succeeding days. She was shocked at his appearance.
According to Marchand he said to her:

Well Madame, you too have been ill. But now you are better. Your illness is known whereas mine is not, and therefore I am dying.

Fanny and her children were with Napoleon when he died.

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1. Memoirs of General Bertrand Grand Marshall of the Palace January to May 1821 April 24th 1821, p. 198
2. Albert Benhamou L'autre Sainte-Hélène: La Captivité, La Maladie, La Mort, Et Les Médecins Autour De Napoléon p.248
3. The fact that Basil Jackson had indeed acted as a spy for the Governor was revealed to the Longwood party on May 8th 1821. Bertrand p. 265
4. Albert Benhamou p 203
5. Albert Benhamou, p. 208.
6. G. L. de St. M. Watson, A Polish Exile with Napoleon (London 1912) p. 234
7. April 14th 1821. Bertrand p.159
8. Bertrand p. 61
9. Bertrand p. 164
10. Bertrand p. 218

Spithead 1821: The Disembarkation of Napoleon's Suite from the not so good ship Camel

I wrote two years ago about our experiences when disembarking from the R.M.S. St Helena at Cape Town. It was probably the most frustrating and least enjoyable part of our trip.

I have now read a little about the experience of the Bertrands and the rest of Napoleon's suite in 1821, and will complain no more.

The store ship Camel left St Helena on 27th May and arrived at Spithead with 21 of Napoleon's party late on Tuesday 31st July.

The party were reported to be in "deep mourning." It was also reported that Countess Bertrand had brought home some slips of the willow under which Buonaparte was buried , and these were growing in pots.(1)

Permission to land was eventually received from Lord Bathurst on Friday 3rd, and they duly landed at noon. They were treated "according to the provisions of the Alien Act." (2)

Whilst waiting on board ship for permission to land they were doubtless cheered by the fact that the King, passing the Camel in his yacht, sent Sir Wm Keppell, and others of his suite on board to enquire after the health of Madame Bertrand and family, as also the health of others, the attendants of Napoleon.

They were also visited by the Captain Ross of the Northumberland who had taken them to St Helena in 1815, and by R. Glover, who had also sailed out with them as Secretary to Admiral Cockburn. (3)

Somebody who saw them on board gave private information to the Manchester Guardian. Most attention was on the Bertrand family, and it was noted that Countess Bertrand is descended from the Irish Dillon family, and indeed is scarcely to be considered as an alien. The children, Hortense, Napoleon and Henry were much admired, but most notice was taken of Arthur, who it was reported was born on St Helena.

He has such a face as Guido would give to a princely child. His eyes are dark and large, and his dark brown hair flows in abundance upon his shoulders. .. He speaks English with an accent entirely insular, and there is about him much of that independent little bluster which is seen in young English children. He understands French, but he will not speak it; he does not like it.

Arthur of course was a favourite of Napoleon. We have also come across him before, in later years, in connection with Mademoiselle Rachel.

They were taken ashore on Admiral Sir James Hawkins Whitshed's twelve-oared barge - and were greeted by Sir James and his wife, Lady Gordon, Lady Bryce, Sir George Cooke, Major Harris, and Mr and Mrs Glover and doubtless others too numerous to mention. The Bertrands' children were apparently very uneasy at the immense multitude of people who were assembled to witness their arrival.

The Bertrands and Montholon dined with Sir James and Lady Hawkins at the Admiralty House on August 3rd, and on the next day with Sir George Cooke at the Lieutenant Governor's House. Then they departed for London.

The week the party arrived in England The Times was carrying an advert for a performance at the Royal Coburg Theatre of a new grand Romantic Pantomime Spectacle, entitled Napoleon Buonaparte General, Consul, and Emperor. (4)

Events in France

The same week it was reported that a petition had been presented to the Chamber of Deputies in Paris asking for Napoleon's body to be brought back to France. It was signed among others by Baron Gourgaud, who had left St. Helena under rather unhappy circumstances in 1818, and was to return in 1840 on the Belle Poule. France could not endure, said the petition, that Napoleon's body should remain as a trophy in the hands of foreigners; and that every Englishman may say, on showing an insolent monument,'Here is the Emperor of the French.'

On July 28th the Manchester Guardian printed a report from Paris dated July 14th on reaction to the news of Napoleon's death:

As for the immense mass of the population, the impression on them is more profound and awful every day. I know a Gentleman that was in the Halle au Cuir when the news was mentioned; all business was immediately suspended, and the tradesmen retired without making a single purchase; on the Saturday night the bust of Napoleon was promenaded on the Place de Louvre, the guard was called out, and the people fled. Sunday multitudes wore black, and others went to salute the Column d'Austerlitz ..
Multitudes will not yet believe that Bonaparte is dead, and even among the Garde Royale, this obstinate incredulity remains. .. the effect is terrible for the reigning House.
"I asked one of the Garde .. 'Ah', commented he, 'I served him in Russia too, and if I could see him again, I would follow him to the end of the world - tis too cruel to be dragged from his wife, his mother, his family and his son, and to be carried to a hole by grenadiers, foreigners, and gaolers'.
Every body believes that his detention caused his death - if no violent means were employed. All wait for Bertrand's account, and rely on that. The Government in the meantime is doing all it can to lower itself

Whether or not this was an accurate portrayal of the mood in France, its appearance was probably significant. The issue of Napoleon's treatment was soon to become a hot political issue in England, and it is probably fair to say that Sir Hudson Lowe was to prove a convenient scapegoat.

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1. Manchester Guardian, August 11th 1821
2. The Manchester Guardian said they landed on the Thursday, but according to the Times it was Friday. The Times, August 7th 1821.
3. Manchester Guardian, August 11th 1821
4. The Royal Coburg opened in 1818. In 1880 it became the Royal Victoria Hall. It was damaged during the second world war, but reopened in the early 1950's as The Old Vic.

St Helena Sites Associated with the Captivity of Napoleon

Hutts Gate - somewhere opposite this building apparently lie the ruins of a house in which the Bertrands lived before their cottage at Longwood was complete.

The childrens' nurse, Mrs Dickson, later kept a store at Hutts Gate and was there to greet Arthur Bertrand in 1840.

It was here that Napoleon, ill and exhausted, got into his carriage after his final outing to see Sir William Doveton at Sandy Bay.

I believe Napoleon first discovered Sane Valley (where he was to be buried at his own request), when visiting the Bertrands here.

Obviously anyone whose interest in Napoleon takes them to St Helena will focus on the three French properties. There are however other sites such as Hutts Gate which such visitors will probably wish to explore.

Two years ago I intended to produce a comprehensive list of these, but found that I had not visited all of them, had few worthwhile images to share, and also realised that my knowledge was fragmentary at best. So it was never published.

I would have found this useful when planning my visit to St Helena and so, imperfect as it is, I shall now publish it. Michel Martineau's own blog contains a number of excellent photographs of these sites, but you have to search a little to find them. The visit of the Friends of Malmaison in 2003 is also worth a look. It contains a picture of a bearded Honorary French Consul looking rather older I think than he does now!

Maldivia House, home of Major Hodson, son in law of William Doveton. Napoleon visited this house whilst staying at the Briars. This has been covered in a number of previous posts.

Rosemary Plain/Rosemary Hall - This house was occupied by the Austrian and Russian Commissioners, Stürmer and Balmain. I never managed to identify this building. Montchenu the French Commissioner, the butt of everyone's jokes, lived in cheaper accommodation in Jamestown opposite Porteous House.

Fishers Valley/Valley of the Nymph The Nymph, Mary Anne Robinson, was the daughter of a farmer who lived in the valley and was spotted by Napoleon on one of his rides and given this name. (1) I believe that ruins of the farm house are still there.


Teutonic Hall Previously known as Mason's Stock House. The property of wealthy landowner Miss Mason, who always treated Napoleon effusively. Apparently she used to ride an oxen. She was still alive when the party came to recover the Emperor's body in the Belle Poule in 1840.

Porteous House The lodging house in Jamestown close to the castle in which Napoleon spent his first night. The building was destroyed by fire in the late nineteenth century.

Farm Lodge Apparently Hudson Lowe considered moving Napoleon there in 1818; but Gourgaud, in the period when he was cooperating with Lowe and trying to engineer a direct passage back to Europe, suggested that Longwood was easier to guard. (2) It is now a pleasant hotel.

Mount Pleasant - Sandy Bay, home of Sir William Doveton, to which Napoleon made his last outing on 4th October 1820. This has been covered in a number of posts.



Rock Rose - The house in which Count las Cases and his son, and later Gourgaud were housed by the Governor prior to their leaving the island.

Bertrand's Cottage - across the road from Longwood; now in the hands of the St Helena National trust; here Napoleon used to watch with his telescope the horse races that took place on Deadwood Plain. This has been covered in a number of posts.

Longwood New House - the house built for Napoleon close to Bertrands Cottage - as it may have looked in the nineteenth century! The house was demolished after the war. The modern visitor will just have to try to imagine it. It is virtually impossible to do so. Agricultural buildings now occupy its site.

The house itself was pre-fabricated, sent over from England and, after much delay, virtually completed in December 1820. Napoleon had always said he would not live there, and shortly before his death had been upset by the iron railings that Lowe had had installed. In the last hours of Napoleon's illness Lowe and his assistant Major Gideon Gorrequer waited there anxiously for news. Lowe had refused to believe that Napoleon was seriously ill until almost the end.

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1. Miss Robinson may have visited Longwood a few times; she certainly brought her newly married husband to say goodbye to Napoleon in July 1817. He was a sea captain named John Ives Edwards. Captain Edwards called on the Bertrands in 1821 just before Napoleon's death. Apparently he told them that the English people had no wish to keep Napoleon at St. Helena, and they felt that the ignoble way in which the Emperor was being treated was a slur on them. So at least Bertrand recorded in his secret diary.

2. The Las Cases had been sent to Cape Town, and had not had a very pleasant experience there before getting back to Europe. Gourgaud apparently wished to avoid this at almost any cost.

Rachel: "I prefer renters to owners"

Elisabeth Rachel Félix, French tragédienne, 1821-1858

- first a great Jewess, second a great actress, and third a great lover (1)


- two sons and no husband, innumerable lovers, a million and a quarter francs, and a reputation as a tragic actress which has never been overshadowed (2)

She was born in Switzerland to travelling pedlars.

A slight Piaf like figure, she was spotted with her sister when they were sent to sing and recite in Paris cafes.

She appeared at the Théâtre-Français at the age of 17, and soon reached the top of her profession.

She performed in London and was received by Queen Victoria; she also toured Belgium, Holland, Prussia, Russia and latterly the United States.

But for my research on the Bertrand family I probably would never have come across Rachel, nor James Agate who, in a characteristic turn of phrase, remarks that ambition sent her rummaging among imperial debris. (3)

Indeed, among her many lovers were Napoleon III, Napoleon's natural son, the then widowed Count Walewski (with whom she had a son, Alexandre Antoine Colonne Walewski 1844-1898) and Prince Napoleon (Napoléon Joseph Charles Paul Bonaparte). But that was not all.

Rachel and the Belle Poule

She also had relationships with two members of the Belle Poule expedition that brought Napoleon's body back to France in 1840. First was the leader of the expedition, the Prince of Joinville (1818-1900), son of Louis Philippe, who sent Rachel a visiting card on which he had written:

Ou? - Quand? - Combien?

Her reply was equally short and to the point:

Chez toi - Ce soir. - Pour rien.

More significant was her relationship with Arthur Bertrand, who had been born on St Helena in 1817, and as a young child had been a favourite of Napoleon in his latter years. Arthur returned to St Helena with his father to get Napoleon's body in 1840. His mother had died a few years earlier.

Agate describes Arthur thus:

the gambler broken at twenty-two, with a baby face which could blush as easily as a girl's and the habit of borrowing from his mistresses the money to pay his debts. (4)

At the age of 17 Arthur had begun a relationship with the comedienne Pauline-Virginie Déjazet, who was 36. His mother Fanny approved of this relationship, and had sent her another of those locks of Napoleon's hair! This affair appears to have lasted until he met Rachel in 1840.

Arthur's relationship with Rachel lasted after a fashion for eight years. They had a son Gabriel Victor Felix who was born in 1848. Unlike Count Walewski, Arthur never acknowledged the son as his. He never married and died in 1871. Gabriel fought in the Franco-German war, and died in 1889 in Brazzaville where he was serving as the French Consul .

Rachel and Mlle George

Mlle George, herself a leading actress, and the former lover of Napoleon and Wellington had by the 1840's fallen on hard times, so she went to see Rachel to ask her to perform in a benefit. Rachel refused to see her, but asked her to write instead, to which Mlle George responded:

I have been as big an actress as Rachel and as great
a whore. It's true that I'm starving, that I owe ten francs to my porter, that I've sold the Emperor's diamonds to my pawnbroker ..But I will not write to Rachel.(5)

In the event Rachel did agree to appear at the benefit, but on stage the older actress deliberately set out to humiliate the young pretender. Most of the audience hissed Rachel, and she left the theatre without even taking a curtain call!

Rachel's Waterloo

Rachel's final tour was to the United States. It was not a success. American audiences had little appreciation of French tragedy, and her health was failing. She moved on to Havana from where in 1855 she wrote using Napoleonic imagery:

Thus it comes about that I must bring my poor routed army back to the Seine. It is in my mind that I am coming home to die and, like Napoleon, shall come to the Invalides to demand a stone whereon to lay my head." (6)

On her return she wrote to a journalist denying that she was going to marry:

I am thirty-two, my face tells me I am fifty, and we won't say anything about the rest. Eigthteen years of classical tirades, scamperings from one end of the world to the other, retreats from Moscow and betrayals at Waterloo .. (7)

She made her last journey on Prince Napoleon's yacht from Marseilles to le Cannet. She died of consumption in 1858. Despite rumours to the contrary she remained a Jewess, although she had had both her sons baptised as Catholics.

So ends my rummaging amongst the imperial debris. Others may wish to explore the Walewski/Felix descendants on the family website.

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NOTES

1. James Agate, Rachel (NY/London 1924, Reissued 1969) p. 14. Agate was a distinguished British theatre critic in the first half of the twentieth century. This book is clearly the product of a less politically correct age e.g. " a Jewess she was to her bone and marrow, a Jewess in the worst and the best sense." (p. 91)
2. Agate p 15
3. Agate p. 81.
4. Agate p. 79.
5. Agate p. 75
6. Agate p 86.
7. Agate p. 87

Bertrand's Cottage - a postscript

No sooner had I done the last entry regarding Michel's blog than a new entry appeared, and then another. I have a number of topics I wish to develop, but they can wait. In the meantime I feel I must draw attention to these posts since they tie in so much with my own interests.

I have always found Mme Bertrand perhaps the most interesting of Napoleon's entourage, and was concerned on my visit at the neglect of the cottage. It is very pleasing to find that its importance in the story of the Captivity and therefore in St. Helena's history, is now being recognised.

Anyway Michel's posting of 28th August reproduces an important document by Bertrand's faithful servant Etienne Bouges, which provides a unique perspective on life in this cottage during the captivity: Napoleon rarely visited; Bertrand went to Longwood House every day; Madame Bertrand cried a lot. Don't rely on my summary, read it for yourself, there is an English translation with it!

The very latest gives an account of Michel's speech (in English) at the ceremony marking the lease of the cottage to the National Trust.

I have reproduced the last paragraph, which I think exemplifies the philosophy which Michel brings to his work.

This house is a resume in its own right. In this house, the present, the future are not opposed to the past, they are made from the same faith and vision. We are here because we all share this faith in St. Helena, in its past without shame. St. Helena with its prisoners, its slaves, its misery and also its glory … is St. Helena we respect. … we love and to which we are faithful. This house is no judge. This House is - a patient – a silent – witness. May she look upon us kindly tomorrow for what we do today. Together .

Bertrand's Cottage Back to Life

This blog would never have started but for Michel Dancoisne-Martineau, whose suggestion it was. One of my aims was to provide an occasional commentary about his blog, which began around the same time as mine and is of course largely in French.

As indicated in my previous posting, his blog has what I think is probably now the best collection of photographs of St Helena online - as well as a tremendous amount of material about the Napoleonic sites on the island. Anyway I digress.

Today Michel has announced news about Bertrand's Cottage, the background of which was first covered in my blog in March 2008.

Bertrand's Cottage is the property of the St. Helena Government, and in recent years has been empty and sadly neglected. Following a blog by Michel raising concern about this, the Government has agreed to lease the property to the St. Helena National Trust. The new director of the National Trust, Jamie Robs, will live there with his family. This is excellent news, and offers hope that one piece of St. Helena's heritage will be preserved through these straitened times.

Michel's entries on Bertrand's Cottage can be accessed by clicking here. The latest one has an English translation.

The Racehorse Blucher and St Helena

I have said on a previous blog that one of the best things about blogging is the emails that you get.


I have recently had a very interesting query from novelist and historian Mike Hutton about one of the horses that raced on St Helena in Napoleon's time.






Some Background: Horse Racing on St Helena

During the captivity horse racing took place twice a year at Deadwood from April 1817. The organiser was the young Captain (later Admiral) Henry John Rous, pictured above in later years, who was to become the 'dictator' of English horse racing. (1)

Napoleon used to watch the races from behind the shutters at Bertrand's cottage (2). I understand that his horses were lent for the racing, as were those of the Governor.

The horses which took part in the first meeting were

African, Brickdust, Blucher , Bacchus, Botherum, Comet, Creeper, Dolly, Emperor, Feather, Fidget, Grinder, Hambletonian, Hope, John Bull, Kutusoff, Manks, Marske, Mansel, Negro, Pringle, Prime of Life, Regent, Royal Oak, Regulus, Sebastian, Salamanca, Toussaint, Tom Tit, Tom Crop, Tickler, Whiskey.

Basil Jackson's Reminiscences are worth recording

... recalls to my memory our St Helena racing,
over which Captain Rous ruled with all the authority he so long exercised at Newmarket. We had our Turf Club, and an excellent mile-and-a-half course at Dead wood. It is true that our horses were not of high quality, but they afforded quite as much amusement as if they had been thoroughbred Rous infected me with his racing taste, and he found me an apt pupil, though invariably opposed to him. The Gover- nor was very liberal in his patronage, giving two handsome plates annually, and generally attended the sport in person ; he also placed his horses at the command of Captain Rous, and as they, or some of them, were English, and the best in the island, he enjoyed great advantages. The light weights of both army and navy furnished jockeys, and all turned out in proper racing equipment.
(3)

The Mystery of Blucher


To return to the query from Mike Hutton. He is doing some research on early English horse racing and is trying to find out what happened to the famous English race horse Blucher. This horse won the Derby in 1814 and was recorded as being at stud in the UK in 1817, but disappears without trace from the records by 1822. He wondered whether the horse on St Helena which was listed as racing in the first meeting in 1817 was the same horse.

There is fairly incontrovertible evidence of the sale of Blucher along with 3 slaves Under the Tree on St. Helena in 1829. I am inclined to doubt that this was the famous Blucher, although the sellers might have been happy to give that impression. Jackson indicates (see passages in bold above) that the standard of horse racing on St Helena was not very high, and I would have thought that the presence of a Derby winner would have received much notice. If anybody can help Mike to resolve the mystery of what happened to the famous Blucher, or any more information on the 1829 auction then please let me know, and I will pass the information to him.

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1. Henry John Rous (1795 –1877), second son of the 1st Earl of Stradbroke, British admiral, steward of the Jockey Club, author of the standard work on the Laws and Practice of Horse Racing, Conservative MP and First Lord of the Admiralty. Rous came out to St. Helena in the Conqueror, in August 1817 he was appointed to command of the Podargus. In January 1818 he was transferred to the Mosquito, and he left St. Helena in July 1819.

2. See my blog entry of March 4th 2008.

3. Basil Jackson Notes and Reminiscences of a Staff Officer, Chiefly Relating to the Waterloo Campaign and to St. Helena Matters During the Captivity of Napoleon (1877 & 1903). Jackson also describes an event that I have referred to on an earlier blog: : During the first day's sport after our arrival,
an awkward circumstance occurred on the course, which everybody regretted when it could not be helped. A certain half-mad and drunken piqueur of Napoleon, named Archambault, took it into his head to gallop within the ropes when the course was cleared, and the horses coming up. For this transgression he was pursued by one of the stewards, and horse-whipped out of the forbidden limits. This gentleman knew not that the offender belonged to the Longwood establishment, or he would, no doubt, have spared his whip — particularly as Napoleon at the time was sitting on a bench outside his residence, looking at the crowd through a glass, and we were apprehensive that he might in-terpret the accidental chastisement his servant had received, into a premeditated insult to the master.

But we did Napoleon injustice by the sup- position. Mr O'Meara told me the next day, that he had distinctly witnessed everything thai passed, and had been very angry when he saw Archambault galloping alone along the course, and was pleased to see him chastised ; and that he had called him into his presence, and ex- pended on him a few f- beies and sacri cochons, afterwards.

The Road to St Helena Part III: Torbay and Plymouth

The story of Napoleon's arrival and reception in England is a remarkable one, but it is one about which most people in the UK are totally ignorant.


It is a difficult story to tell. No single view can do it justice. We need at least four cameras.


Camera One focuses on Napoleon's party. They are all devoted to the Emperor, and horrified by the decision to send him to St. Helena, but each has his/her own concerns. For some it is a concern that they will not be chosen to accompany the Emperor in exile. For Generals Lallemand and Savary there is the bigger concern that they might be handed over to the Bourbons, and to almost certain execution. For the volatile Mme Bertrand, it is the horror at her husband's determination to go to St. Helena; this was to drive her to attempted suicide. (1) For the children, apparently oblivious of the strains on their parents, the trip provided endless opportunity to play military games on the deck.

Camera Two focuses on the Government and its representatives. They are concerned at the signs of popular enthusiasm for the former Emperor, and are hopeful that once in a far off and isolated place he will soon be forgotten. If Napoleon was allowed to stay in England, the prime Minister wrote to the Foreign Secretary, it would raise legal questions,

which would be particularly embarrassing .. you know enough of the feelings of the people in this country not to doubt he would become the object of curiosity immediately, and possibly of compassion in the course of a few months .. St. Helena is the place in the world best calculated for the confinement of such a person. There is a fine Citadel there in which he might reside. The situation is perfectly healthy.

And of course, they are determined to humble the upstart Emperor, as the instructions prepared for Admiral Cockburn who was to accompany Napoleon to St. Helena indicate. Cockburn himself later reports to Melville

The General has descended from Emperor on board the Bellerophon to be prisoner on board the Northumberland with wonderful flexibility of mind and I am very much mistaken if I shall have any further difficulty in performing the task your lordship has confided to me.(2)

Camera Three focuses on Napoleon's supporters in England who are busily writing to the press, somehow managing to communicate with the party on the Bellerophon, and plotting to serve writs and sub poenas to bring Napoleon ashore. They are undoubtedly encouraged by the reception Napoleon receives from the people of Torbay and Plymouth. For William Cobbett, once one of Napoleon's strongest critics and now a vocal supporter, the size and reaction of the crowds is a victory over prejudice deep-rooted; prejudice the work of twenty years of calumnies .., it is a glorious triumph for Napoleon. (3)

Camera four focuses on the large crowd which takes to the boats both in Torbay and Plymouth to catch a glimpse of England's captive; their respect and apparent sympathy for the fallen Emperor causes concern amongst Tory supporters, who are frightened of revolt by England's unrepresented masses. Lady Fitzgerald writes to Sir Charles Hastings,

Believe me, the most unwise step our government ever took was showing John Bull that Bonaparte had neither horns nor hoofs (4)

No camera of course could capture what was going on in the head of the man at the centre of this whole extraordinary spectacle. His captors, like everyone else who came into contact with him, were fascinated:

Lord Keith:

D--n the fellow, if he had obtained an interview with his Royal Highness, in half an hour they would have been the best friends in England." (5)

Captain Maitland's servant, on being asked what the ship's company thought of Napoleon:

Why, Sir, I heard several of them conversing together about him this morning; when one of them observed,"Well they may abuse that man as much as they please; but if the people of England knew him as well as we do, they would not hurt a hair of his head;' in which the others agreed. (6)

Captain Maitland

He appeared to have great command of temper; for, though no man could have had greater trials than fell to his lot during the time he remained on board the Bellerophon, he never, in my presence, or as far as I know, allowed a fretful or captious expression to escape him: even the day he received the notification from Sir Henry Bunbury, that it was determined to send him to St. Helena, he chatted and conversed with the same cheerfulness as usual.. (7)

One morning he began to talk of his wife and child, and desired Marchand to bring two or three miniature pictures to show me: he spoke of them with much feeling and affection. 'I feel,' said he,'the conduct of the allied sovereigns to be more cruel and unjustifiable toward me in that respect than in any other. Why should they deprive me of the comforts of domestic society, and take from me what must be the dearest objects of affection to every man - my child, and the mother of that child?' On his expressing himself as above, I looked him steadily in the face, to observe whether he showed any emotion: the tears were standing in his eyes, and the whole of his countenance appeared evidently under the influence of a strong feeling of grief. (8)

Timeline

Nightfall on 23rd July : From the Bellerophon Dartmoor is spotted in the distance; Napoleon is informed by Captain Maitland as he is preparing for bed; he puts on a great coat and comes on deck. where he stays for some time.

Day-break 24th July: Napoleon is informed by Count Bertrand that they are off Dartmouth; he comes on deck at 4.30 and remains until they anchor off Torbay. Among the instructions that come aboard is a letter from Lord Keith:

You may say to Napoleon that I am under the greatest personal obligations to him for his attention to my nephew, who was taken and brought before him at Belle Alliance, and who must have died, if he had not ordered a surgeon to dress him immediately, and sent him to a hut.

Napoleon and his party anxiously begin to inspect the newspapers, which seem to suggest that Napoleon will not be allowed to land, and that the likely destination is St. Helena. They hope that the newspapers are wrong.

Soon General Gourgaud arrives, he has not been allowed to land and personally deliver Napoleon's letter to the Prince Regent.

The Bellerophon is soon surrounded by boats. Napoleon comes on deck, and shows himself to the waiting crowds.

25th July: Even larger crowds. Napoleon spends over an hour on deck. He takes off his hat and bows to the women in the boats.

26th July: Captain Maitland is ordered to proceed to Plymouth. This is not a good sign. Napoleon makes no comment, but stays on deck most of the day. As they approach Plymouth he quizzes the Captain about the Breakwater that had been erected; it is he says a great national achievement. He fears that the similar work he has had done at Cherbourg and elsewhere will now be neglected.

Napoleon asks to see Lord Keith; but the latter is unwilling to see him until he has received instructions.

Captain Mailtand is instructed to prevent all communication with the shore, and to take measures to prevent Napoleon's escape.

Napoleon tells Maitland that he is anxious to see Lord Keith, even as a private person, until the British Government has determined in what light I am to be considered. He also complains about two frigates being placed close to the Bellerophon - as if I were not perfectly secure on a British line-of-battle ship - and the firing of muskets to keep boats at a distance: it disturbs and distresses me, and I shall be obliged to you to prevent it, if it lies in your power. Captain Maitland immediately orders the captains of the frigates to stop firing.

27th July. Maitland receives letter from Admiralty, dated July 25th: Napoleon Bonaparte is to be considered and addressed as a General Officer.

Large numbers of boats again surround the Bellerophon . Napoleon expresses admiration of the beauty of the English ladies, including Captain Maitland's wife who comes close enough to converse, but is not allowed to board the ship.

28th July. Lord Keith comes on board and speaks with Napoleon. Lord Keith expresses ignorance of the Government's intentions.

29th July. It rains incessantly. No boats: the Frenchmen were deprived of their usual amusement of admiring the ladies, and being admired in return.

30th July. Maitland says that over 1000 boats are gathered round the Bellerophon - each with an average load of 8 people.

31st July. Sir Henry Bunbury accompanies Lord Keith on board. Before they arrive Maitland informs Napoleon of one of the British Government's worst kept secrets ever: that Napoleon is to be sent to St. Helena. Madame Betrand tries to get Lord Keith to prevent her husband from going with Napoleon.

Napoleon complains to Captain Maitland:

To be placed on an island within the tropics, at an immense distance from any land, cut off from all communication with the world, and everything that I hold dear in it! ... I would prefer being delivered up to the Bourbons. Among other insults, but that is a mere bagatelle, a very secondary consideration, - they style me General! they can have no right to call me General; they may as well call me Archbishop, for I was head of the church, as well as the army. If they do not acknowledge me as Emperor, they ought as First Consul; they have sent Ambassadors to me as such; and your King, in his letters, styled me brother. Had they confined me in the Tower of London, or one of the fortresses in England, (though not what I had hoped from the generosity of the English people,) I should not have so much cause of complaint; but to banish me to an island within the Tropics! They might as well have signed my death-warrant at once, as it is impossible a man of my habit of body can live long in such a climate.

Napoleon writes another letter to the Prince Regent.

Napoleon appears on deck - to the suprise of Captain Maitland who has assumed he is too angry and upset to show himself to the crowd.

Madame Bertrand attempts to throw herself over board: on being forcibly prevented by Montholon and others whom he summoned for help, she becomes hysterical and abuses the English nation and Government in French and English.

Maitland is informed by Lallemand, Montholon and Gourgaud that the Emperor will not go to St. Helena: he will sooner put himself to death.

1st August. Lord Keith tells Maitland to inform the three Generals that the laws of England will regard them as murderers if they take Napoleon's life.

2nd August. Napoleon does not appear on deck. He refuseds to nominate people to accompany him to St. Helena. Privately Napoleon complains to Maitland about the cruelty of sending him to St. Helena. He also asks many questions about the island. At dinner he says little and appears unwell.

3rd August. Napoleon remains in his cabin. He is said to be unwell.

4th August. Lord Keith is pursued all day by a lawyer attempting to serve a sub poena.

Bellerophon is ordered to put to sea to avoid a writ of habeas corpus being served. Napoleon demands to know why the ship is being made ready for sea. He is informed that they are going to meet the Northumberland, and that he will be moved to the Northumberland at sea. Napoleon asks to see Lord Keith, who declined to visit. Bertrand informs Maitland, "L'Empereur n'ira pas à St. Hélène." [The Emperor will not go to St. Helena]

The ship leaves at 9.00 p.m., avoiding a boat approaching carrying the a lawyer bearing the writ summoning Napoleon to appear as a witness at the Court of King's Bench.

A boat carrying two women keeps close to the Bellerophon; the women wave their handkerchiefs whenever Napoleon appears at the window.

Napoleon writes another letter to the Prince Regent.

He remains in his cabin, even for meals.

5th August. Napoelon's protest is delivered to Lord Keith by Maitland.

6th August. O'Meara, the Bellerophon's doctor, tells Maitland he has been approached about accompanying Napoleon to St. Helena. The Northumberland is sighted.

Bertrand and Montolon make lists of things required by the French officers and ladies for the trip to St. Helena.
Lord Keith and Sir George Cockburn come on board - the latter, who is to escort Napoleon to St. Helena, is introduced to Napoleon. The French officers' weapons are removed. Napoleon is allowed to keep his sword.

7th August. Napoleon asks Maitland to send a written document to Bertrand informing him that Napoleon is to be removed to the Northumberland - he wants it made clear that he is being forced to go, and that he has not been consulted. Napoleon informs Maitland that he has no complaint at the way he has been treated by him, but again complains about his treatment by the British Government. I have not now to learn, however, that it is not fair to judge of the character of a people by the conduct of their Government.

Napoleon agrees that Gourgaud could accompany him in place of Planat.

Madame Bertrand again tries to persuade her husband not to go to St. Helena. Captain Maitland advised her that if your husband quits his master at such a time as the present. he will forfeit the very high character he now bears in this country.

Madame Bertrand has an altercation with Captain Maitland on hearing that the Emperor is not to have the whole of the after-cabin on board the Northumberland. They had better treat him like a dog at once, and put him down in the hold, she said.

On leaving the ship the Madame Bertrand asks to shake the Captain's hand.

Sir George Cockburn comes on board with his secretary Mr Byng to inspect Napoleon's baggage. Count Bertrand refuses to be present.

At 11.00 Lord Keith comes on board to escort Napoleon to the Northumberland. Two hours later Napoleon lets it be known he is ready. as Napoleon crossed the quarter-deck to leave the ship, the guard presented arms, and three ruffles of the drum were beat, being the salute given to a General Officer. p. 203

Napoleon thanks the captain and officers, and bows to the ship's company.

After the boat had shoved off, and got the distance of about thirty yards from the ship, he stood up, pulled his hat off, and bowed first to the Officers, and then to the men; and immediately sat down, and entered into conversation with Lord Keith, with as much apparent composure as if he had been only going from one ship to the other to pay a visit.

Lallemand and Savary go on board the Northumberland to say goodbye to the Emperor. They are in tears as they part from him.

8th August. Northumberland sets sail for St. Helena.
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NOTES
(1) Madame Bertrand is not the favourite of recent French historians of the captivity - her conduct on the Bellerophon and on St. Helena, and some of her comments, certainly provided ammunition for Napoleon's detractors. She was volatile no doubt, but she had had a lot to put up with; the execution of her father during the revolution, the long absences of her husband during Napoleon's wars, the exile on Elba, and now St. Helena. Captain Maitland, although he had several bruising encounters with her, was probably a fair judge: "perhaps a little warm .. a kind mother and an affectionate wife; and if she easily took offence, she as easily forgot it;" F.L. Maitland, Narrative of the Surrender of Buonaparte (London 1826) p. 226. He had no doubts about her ultimate loyalty to Napoleon: "when not influenced by the horror she entertained of being banished to St. Helena, always spoke of him [Napoleon] not only with affection, but in the language of respect and enthusiasm." (Maitland p. 232)

(2) Roger Morriss, who writes from the Government/Admiralty view point, says that instructions to Cockburn "laid more than normal stress on the personal qualities necessary for the task", and that "Cockburn was concerned to win the psychological duel for intellectual supremacy." Roger Morriss, Napoleon and St Helena, 1815-1816 The apportionment of cabins on the Northumberland was designed to put Napoleon in his place - as Mme Bertrand had immediately realised. Maitland of course had not been briefed as to how to deal with Napoleon, and had treated him as a distinguished guest, for which he received some criticism.

(3) Stuart Semmel, Napoleon and the British (Yale 2004) p. 171 See also my entry of April 20th 2008 on Capel Lofft

(4) She reported that during his stay at Plymouth the popular tide in his favour ran alarmingly high, and one evening the mob, won by his smiles, cheered him with enthusiasm She herelf found him more imposing, more extraordinary than any creature I have ever seen. .. He seems quite inaccessible to human tenderness or human distress - still he is wonderful. Dorothy Wordsworth wrote that she was sick of the adulation, the folly, the idol Curiosity which was gathered together round the ship that help the dastardly spirit that has so long been the scourge of all whom he could injure. Semmel p. 172 .

(5) Maitland p 211
(6) Maitland p.224
(7) Maitland pp 211-212
(8) Maitland p. 215

Bertrand's Cottage, St. Helena: A Fine View of the Races

Just the other side of the road that bends around Longwood House is a small cottage that many tourists probably overlook.





This was the home of Grand Marshall Bertrand, the most loyal of the Emperor's followers(1).

Here he lived with his wife Fanny and four children until Napoleon's death.

Here their youngest son, Arthur, was born.

Here, In 1821, not long before Napoleon's death, Mme Bertrand suffered a miscarriage and nearly died. Napoleon felt his doctor was spending too much time with her and neglecting him.




It cannot have been an easy time for either Bertrand or his wife.

Nobody seems to have taken responsibility for the education of the children who apparently ran wild in Longwood. Napoleon enjoyed their company.

In this house Napoleon used to peer though the shutters with his telescope to watch the races on Deadwood. One day he saw one of his servants driving down the course in a state of drunkenness. The man was horsewhipped by a steward. Napoleon reprimanded him later.


The Maiden Meeting of the St. Helena Turf Club took place in April 1817. Thereafter there were two meetings each year. There was a sweepstake at each meeting. Among the 33 horses that took part in the first meeting was one named "Emperor".


It has not changed much since it was built in 1815-16.

It now looks a bit neglected; it is owned by the St. Helena Government.


New Longwood House which was constructed for Napoleon after 1818, but in which he never lived, was close by. It was demolished in 1947.

There are now no horses on St. Helena, although Kauffmann spotted two on his visit over a decade ago.

Fanny Dillon (1785-1836)

Fanny Dillon was half Irish, half Creole, and related to the Empress Josephine. She spoke good English. A very attractive woman, somewhat volatile, she was only 30 when she arrived on St Helena.

Her father, Count Arthur Dillon, descended from an old Irish noble family, and had fought with the Irish Brigade against the British in the War of American Independence. A royalist, he was guillotined during the French Revolution when Fanny was only 9. (2)

Fanny married Henry Gratien Bertrand in 1808, and suffered long periods of absence whilst he was fighting with Napoleon. She accompanied her husband on Napoleon's exile to Elba. After Waterloo she advised Napoleon to surrender to the English:

The English are free and enlightened; they are the only race capable of welcoming the Emperor and understanding him.

When she learned in Plymouth that exile would be on St. Helena rather than England, she did everything possible to prevent her husband following Napoleon again, even by trying to throw herself overboard. "Let her go - why don't you let her go!" yelled General Savary as Bertrand tried to stop her.(3)

Although ultimately loyal to Napoleon, her relations with him were often strained - she insisted on living apart from his court, and she and her husband rarely joined him for dinner.

In the last few months of Napoleon's life she desperately sought his forgiveness, and asked to be allowed to nurse him in his final illness. Napoleon refused - he was used to his faithful valet Marchand he said.

She and her three children were present when he died.

She died of cancer in 1836.

Henri Bertrand and another Fanny

Bertrand was devastated by Fanny's death.

He spent quite a lot of time overseas, including three years in Martinique, as well as his trip in 1840 with his son Arthur back to St. Helena to fetch Napoleon's remains.

In 1843 he made a trip to the United States, and was given a hero's welcome in New York.

During his stay he visited the New York Institution for the Blind, and the blind protestant hymn writer, Fanny Crosby, delivered an emotion packed tribute.(4)

When by those he loved deserted,
Thine was still a faithful heart;
Thou wert proud to share the exile,
Of the hapless Bonaparte.

Not the best poetry to be inspired by Napoleon perhaps!
_______________________________________________
NOTES
1. Henry Gatien Bertrand(1763-1844) . He entered the army in 1793, and first met Napoleon in the Italian campaign in 1797. He became Napoleon's aide-de-camp in 1805. Thereafter he participated in all the major campaigns of the Empire. In 1813 he was named Grand Marshall of the Palace, a title he effectively retained in somewhat diminished circumstances on St. Helena. Some years after his burial in his home town of Chateauroux his body was moved to Les Invalides.

2. He had commanded the regiment Dillon, this was part of that battalion known as the Irish Brigade in the French Army. Arthur Dillon was its last Colonel.

3. The British Government made it clear that General Savary was not to be allowed to go to St Helena.

4. Frances Jane Crosby (March 24, 1820 – February 12, 1915) Prolific American hymn writer, lifelong Methodist, preacher and public speaker - one of the most famous women in America. Although blind almost from her birth, she wrote over 8000 hymns; including "Blessed Assurance" and "Jesus Is Tenderly Calling You Home".